There’s going to be a lot of consolidation in the discount brokerage industry in the neart term, and I suspect that aqll of them are trying to be the 800 pound gorilla. Ask yourself what you stand to lose if a wave of these merger activities hits.

Did you get a call from an independent recruiter or an internal Schwab recruiter?

When an internal recruiter from a specific brokerage firm calls, do you
actually listen to what they have to say? I’ll never forget the
pain-in-the-arse Primerica recruiter who kept calling me a few years
ago.

I know there exist a number of independent recruiters, some of whom
recruit for multiple companies. I had a good private
message session here with BrokerRecruit. I’d be more willing to
listen to them than an internal recruiter.

Have you ever heard an internal recruiter say, “Our company is a total
pile of crap where you will be frustrated with our poor technology,
poor service, call-somebody-else support staff, and general attitude
that you are grossly overpaid?”

I’d be more apt to listen to an independent recruiter than someone from
Schwab. I think you’ll get a lot better objectivity and
compensation negotiation advice from an independent recruiter.

Thanks, inquisitive. I have found the same to be true. Most internal recruiters that I have encountered have had the philosophy of "our firm is the best and anyone not working here will be unsuccessful in their career..."

I'll be honest, I think the firms I work with are very quality shops, but they're not right for everyone. If there was a "catch-all" firm out there that would be ideal for every broker, there would only be one firm. That's why there are however many hundreds of firms as there are.

Schwab has changed dramatically since the Internet bubble burst.
In the branches, they’ve carved out client “books” which consist of
several hundred million of assets and then asked the reps to try to
steer these clients toward the appropriate Schwab services (ranging
from active trading services to independent RIA-managed
accounts).

The biggest problem has been that Schwab has changed the rep’s deal
every year or so. I think there’s a risk that you’d find them a
great fit now, but if they change their approach again, you’ll have
very little control over your career and “your” clients.

Schwab tends to reward reps for performance now, rather than
encouraging long-term activites. As an example, the reps get very
little credit for ongoing revenues generated by a client referred to an
RIA beyond 3 years.